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April 18th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda AAP
Victoria has become one of the least progressive jurisdictions in Australia when it comes to freedom of information requests, according to a scathing auditor-general’s report.
Auditor-General Des Pearson said the state was once at the forefront of freedom of information (FOI) law, but over time apathy and resistance to scrutiny has affected the way FOI laws operate and restricted the amount of information being released.
As a result, he said government agencies are not meeting the law’s objective, which is to “extend as far as possible the right of the community to access information”.
In his report tabled in parliament on Wednesday, Mr Pearson identified systemic problems with the way government departments process freedom of information requests.
Only four of 12 agencies audited had average request processing times that met the 45-day statutory limit in 2010-11.
The worst performing agencies were Victoria Police, the Department of Premier and Cabinet and the Department of Human Services (DHS).
Mr Pearson said the justice department, which guides other agencies on meeting the act, showed significant shortcomings which reflected an “apathetic and obstructive” culture.
Eight of the 12 agencies exceeded the five-day ministerial noting period, with the Department of Premier and Cabinet the worst performing with an average noting period of 41 days.
One FOI request was with the office of the premier for 88 days.
“When agencies do not respect the FOI guidelines, this not only compounds the delays in processing FOI requests, but also contributes to the public perception that there is political interference in the FOI process,” Mr Pearson said.
He also noted the public was being denied access to information due to deficiencies in the DHS and Victoria Police, the two agencies reviewed in more detail.
The DHS failed to meet its obligations to its clients while the police FOI unit does not do diligent enough searches and both agencies had problems with records being lost.
A justice department spokesman said it accepted all of the auditor-general’s recommendations and reforms are under way to improve its FOI performance.
Victoria’s community legal centres welcomed the report, saying information is often unfairly withheld and the system urgently needs improvement.
Premier Ted Baillieu said the upcoming installation of an FOI commissioner will improve the way FOI requests are handled.
“I acknowledge we had some problems ourselves in the first few months, I guess that’s a function of a new government and also an enormous increase in the number of FOIs,” he said.
“My understanding through the departments is that’s largely been overcome now and we look forward to the FOI commissioner being in place and working to everyone’s benefit.”
But opposition spokesman for government scrutiny Martin Pakula said the government’s claim its FOI commissioner will improve matters is a fantasy.
“The government has deliberately designed the commissioner to be a toothless tiger who can’t review decisions made by ministerial offices, can’t review cabinet-in-confidence claims, can’t set enforceable standards, and who will be horribly under resourced,” he said.
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